The senate has resumed sitting,
shortly after the mace, its symbol of authority, was stolen.
The upper legislative chamber
replaced the mace with another one, said to be a “spare”.
It is not yet clear where the
mace in the chambers had been brought from. The senators are not supposed to
sit without the mace, according to its standing rules.
Ovie Omo-Agege, senator from
Delta state, had stormed the senate with some unidentified persons and carted
away the mace, the symbol of authority.
Ike Ekweremadu, depute senate
president, who is presiding over the session, said the senators “are not going
to be intimidated”.
“We shall never be intimidated by
the anti-democracy and we shall do our best to defend our democracy and our
mandate,” he said.
“They (Omo-Agege and thugs)
passed through the entrance, passed through all the gates and took that mace
away. We are not going to be intimidated by the circumstances. We will stand
for our democracy and defend it.
“It is an affront to democracy
and on the senate; it is an affront on the national assembly. But we are going
to continue to represent the people here. We are going to get to the root of
this matter.”
He also moved a motion, mandating
Ibrahim Idris, the inspector-general of police, to recover the mace within 24
hours.
The senate unanimously adopted
the motion.
Members of the house of
representatives had earlier adjourned their plenary session shortly to join the
senate in their proceedings.
Led by Yusuf Lasun, the deputy
speaker, they said they came to solidarise with the senate regarding the
incident.
They also said they came to show
Nigerians that the institution of the legislature must remain strengthened.
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